The Outsiders: A New Life
by daretodream213
Summary: Maxine and her friends live a rough, lousy life, barely getting by each day. Their survival is in their hands and their hands only, seeing as they're all alone-that is, until they meet the gang of Greasers who change their lives forever.


Part 1

"Shut off your phone!" Rae whisper-shouts at me. "The movie's starting!"

Charly and Elle continue eating their popcorn, unbothered by the constant ringing of my phone. I hear the man in the row behind me growl at me for not turning off my phone, but I don't turn around.

"Alright, alright!" I say to Rae, rolling my eyes. She nods her head, probably satisfied that I actually listened to her for once.

I never really listen to Rae- actually, I never really listen to _anyone- _whose real name is Rachelle, but we all call her Rae. All of us have nicknames. Charly is really Charlotte, and Elle's name is actually Zoelle. We're all like sisters. The closest of friends. We'd put our lives in each others' hands with no hesitation. Sometimes that kind of friendship scares me.

I pull out my phone from my pocket. The bright glare bouncing off the screen catches me off guard, a big contrast compared to the dark room I'm sitting in. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I had my flashlight on. I blink away the spots that line my vision and turn down the brightness. My eyes return to the now dim screen, reading the caller's number. It takes me so much surprise that I gasp aloud.

I hear a few shushes behind me, but I don't pay attention to them. The shock renders my muscles useless.

_911._

All feeling in my body gets drained away as I stare at the screen in horror. Everything is numb. I almost drop my phone, but I manage to keep my grip on it.

_Why would the police be calling me? Did something happen? Am I in trouble?_

"Max! I said shut it-Max? Hey, what's the matter?" Rae's tone changes when she sees my expression, pale and breathless.

I look up at her, still gaping. Charly and Elle lean over from their seats to see what all the commotion is about. For a moment, I'm completely speechless. All the possibilities of what could've happened replace my thoughts.

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding in. "It-it's the..." I stutter.

"Yeah, come on, spit it out!"

"It's the police," I finally manage to get out, swallowing the knot rising in my throat. Their expressions now match mine; scared, confused, and above all, worried.

We all jump out of our seats simultaneously and run out the door. I answer my phone as soon as I'm in the lobby, right before the last ring.

"Yes? Hello?" I ask, frantically.

"Hello," a stranger's voice asks. "Is this Maxine Toretto?"

"Y-yes, that's me."

"Yes, um, hello Ms. Toretto. I'm afraid I have some bad news."

I share a scared glance with the rest of the crew. They can't hear the officer, but they get the general idea from my face.

"What is it?"

He clears his throat, probably in order to sound calm in order not to worry me. Police procedure. "You're parents were the victims of a terrible fire breakout at your house. We just got here and are trying to put out the fire. I'm sorry but the damage could be fatal."

I drop the phone, barely breathing.

"Max, what'd he say?" Rae asked, searching my eyes frantically for an explanation. When I don't respond, she asks again, gripping my shoulders and shaking me wildly, "Max, what happened?!"

I swallow the knot in my throat. "I think we'll have to f-find that out together."

Rae and the others nod, following me when I run out the door. My panting increases, but I keep running.

When we finally get to the house, it's bursting in flames. Pieces of ember fall from the walls of the house. Smoke rises from the fire in all directions, dancing through the air.

"Mom? Dad!"

"Max, I'm so sorry. I don't think they're gonna make it out," Rae tries to comfort me in her own, weird way.

"They are," I try to convince myself. "They're coming. They have to." Tears well up in my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I try to run inside, but Charly holds me back. "Let go of me!" I yell at her through gritted teeth. I immediately feel bad for screaming at her because, in our group, no one screams at Charly. You just don't. We're all practically sisters and Charly's like our little kid-sister. She's the one we all feel we have to protect. Her parents abandoned her when she was eight-Rae and I were nine, Elle was ten-so she came to live with me and my parents. My parents….

"I _said_ let go of me!" I yank my arm out of Charly and Rae's grasp, my tears now running down my face. I run inside the burning house, sparks and smoke filling the air, consuming the oxygen in the room. The lack of oxygen and excessive smoke causes me to choke, but I keep running deeper into the house in search of my parents. I _will_ get them out, oxygen or not.

"Max? Max!" I hear Elle's voice call out to me from somewhere near the doorway. You can tell when she's worried….her tone is different from her usual shy and calm voice, now concerned and distraught. I feel a twinge of guilt for making them come into the ignited house...it's too dangerous.

"Elle, get out of here! You could get hurt!"

"And the same thing goes for you, so we're staying whether you like it or not!" Rae yells from somewhere across the room. Embers fall from the ceiling, burnt to a crisp.

Before anyone could say anything else, I hear a scream as the ceiling of what used to be my bedroom collapses. I rush over to the general area the scream came from and begin picking up random pieces of wood and hauling them into a pile behind me. After I've removed most of the wood, I uncover part of my mom's face.

"Oh my gosh, mom!" I lift the remaining wood off of her and shield her face. "Mom, are you okay?!" Smoke fills my eyes causing my vision to blur, but I can tell she's not in good shape.

Her voice is incredibly hoarse when she speaks, enough to make me even more worried, "Maxine, you've always been my little girl, and I just want you to know I love you. And you are so brave for coming in here to save us, but you _have _to leave. I can't let you get hurt."

I can't believe she'd even think that for a second I'd leave without her.

"No, not without you and dad."

She opens her mouth to speak but ultimately decides against it. It's hard for her to keep her eyes open.

"Mom, what is it?"

"Maxine, I'm so sorry. Your dad-"

"What? What happened to him?" I search around frantically for any sign of him. All I see is the reddish-orange glow of the multiple fires throughout the house.

"He-" she pauses to sigh then takes my face in her hand, the other one is covered in burns and scratches. "Oh, I didn't want you to find out this way," she tells me, shaking her head. At least, she attempts to shake her head. She's barely strong enough to lift her arm.

"Mom, tell me! Where is he?!" I cry.

"I...I found him upstairs. He hung himself. I'm so sorry Maxine."

_What?_

I shut my eyes in anguish and confusion. _It isn't true. It isn't true! _

The emotions race through my mind along with a million questions. I knew my dad and my mom weren't happy, but I didn't know it was this extreme.

Or was it me?

"Wh-what? Why?" I shout.

"I don't know, sweetie." Disappointment hits me hard. So does fear. Fear that the reason...was _me._ My mom sees the disappointment on my face.

"The end of the rope was burnt. I think it may have caught on fire."

The whole tragedy runs through my mind.

_No, _I think to myself. It didn't catch on fire, it's what _caused _the fire. He lit the rope on fire so that, even if he didn't die from suffocation, he'd _burn_ to death. With no regard for my mom's safety.

"Max," Rae's voice chimes into my self-consuming thoughts, "we can't cover you for much longer!" She yells over the roaring flames. Her voice startles me. I'd forgotten it wasn't just me and my mom in here. Charly and Elle are clearing the wood that's close by in order to eliminate any flames nearby and to limit the risk of starting new ones. Rae is trying to fan away the smoke in the air with her jacket, but it ends up circling back into her face.

"Mama, I'm so sorry this happened to you." She smiles, looking much happier than I feel she should be.

"It's okay. I'm okay. As long as you're happy, I'll be..." her voice trails off as her eyes flutter shut. I hold her head close to mine. I begin to cry as I feel her sigh her last breath against my cheek.

The rest of the gang envelopes me in a hug as ember continues to fly nearby. A scene so out of place, yet fitting. For once, I let myself cry in front of them.

"I'm so sorry, Max," Elle says to me, "but we gotta get out of here. The roof is comin' down any second." she says, her voice shaky.

I sniffle and wipe my tears. I doubt they can tell, though. It's too loud in here to hear anything quieter than a shout. My tears are probably covered up by the smoke and dirt frolicking through the air.

"Ok," I shout loudly while nodding my head. The motion mixed with the lack of oxygen makes me a bit light-headed. The others look pale too. "Let's-"

Before I can finish my sentence, Charly's legs begin to wobble while her eyes roll back into her head and slowly shut. She collapses onto the floor, sending dust and sparks to go flying into the air. We all rush to her, getting on our knees to hover over her unconscious body.

"Charly! Oh my gosh, is she okay? Is she breathing?" Elle asks frantically, sharing glances between me and Rae.

Suddenly, my throat begins to close up, rendering me speechless. I point to my throat and begin to choke. Rae and Elle look at me and Charly worriedly. I can't say anything so they don't know what's going on. At this point, it's a game of charades, except I could possibly die from lack of oxygen.

"Max? Max talk to us." Rae begins to pat my back. "Oh my gosh Elle, I think she's choking! That's why Charly passed out. Here, help me."

Rae and Elle hit my back, trying to get the smoke out of my lungs. Although, they keep hitting my side. They probably can't see anything because the smoke is in their eyes. Soon, they're both choking with me. The bad air quality hits all of us, and soon, I'm gasping for air on the ground. None of us can escape. If I tried to walk, my dizziness would cause me to run into a wall, or worse, the fire.

Everything fades away as my throat tightens and tightens until it threatens to pop. I try to squeak out words, but my attempt is proven futile.

I collapse as Charly did. My world turns to black nothingness. My awareness, defense, logic….I feel it all leaving me. The blurry image of Rae and Elle's squirming, coughing bodies on the ground next to me is the last thing I see.

I hack out the remaining dust in my throat. The cold wind is surprising against my skin. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the sudden moonlight.

"What the..."

"Max? Is that you? The blotches across my vision or making it hard to tell." I see Rae trying to stand up on her feet. She ends up falling onto her hands and knees. For some reason, she even _falls_ gracefully.

I blink away the spots lining my vision, the same ones Rae spoke about.

"How did we get out?" I ask. "The last thing I remember was us being inside and you passing out," I point to Charly, who's now awake a couple of feet away from me, along with Elle.

Elle coughs. Visible dust particles shoot out of her mouth as she hits her chest and coughs at the same time. "The question is, what are we doing _alive_?" She whispers. Her voice probably hurts from all the smoke she inhaled. The need for constant screaming probably didn't help. "I really thought we were gonna die in there. I'm so happy you guys are okay," she says, shooting a genuine smile of relief at each of us.

As I'm about to respond to Elle, I notice a dark silhouette of a boy about our age standing behind me. The girls' eyes seem to be on him as well.

I turn around revealing a 13 or 14-year-old boy standing behind me. His hair is dirty blonde, almost brown. Although the four of us are all sitting in front of him, he keeps his eyes on me.

"Can I help you?" I ask him. His hands are in the pockets of his jeans like he doesn't have a worry in the world. To my surprise, his smile widens when I ask this.  
"Well, princess, it seems it's the other way around." He says to me, his grin growing cocky.

"One," I say, standing up to face him. I'm grateful for having just enough balance to not faceplant right in front of him. I have to tilt my face up a little-he's a couple inches taller than me, "Don't call me 'princess'. Two, what in the _world_ are you talking about?"

He glances at each of us-the first time I've seen him look at the other girls. "It seems you four would still be in that crispy pile of wood if I hadn't dragged you out," he says smugly, gesturing to my demolished house.

"_My hero," _I say sarcastically.

He smirks, looking down and shaking his head.

My eyebrows scrunch in confusion. I raise one up in doubt, "Wait," I say after considering his words more carefully. "_You _dragged us out? What happened to the police?"

He scoffs. "The police here suck. They don't care about this town's citizens. As soon as the fire started dying down, they bailed. I'd seen you girls run in there. When you didn't come out, I ran in after ya."

This makes me smile a little bit, but I quickly make it disappear from my face. "Thanks, but I can take care of myself."

He smiles at me, "I don't doubt it."

He leaves with a wide grin on his face, leaving us all in the same, confused state.


End file.
